[Australia] Bible Seminar With Pastor Ocksoo Park, Prepartion for CLF

The missionaries and the church congregation poured their hearts especially on inviting the local pastors as they prepared for the Bible Seminar with pastor Ocksoo Park. God gave them first, a heart to earn the local pastors.

The churches in Australia are in a similar situation as the churches in Korea. Just like how churches which used to be on second and third floors are disappearing in Korea, there are many churches in Australia who have addresses but have actually closed down. They say that the Christian population in Korea has decreased from 8 million to 5 million, likewise the Christian population in Australia is also decreasing. When we visited churches in the outskirts of Sydney 6 out of 7 churches were shut down. And among those who were still having service 70% of them were elderly people. One young pastor whom we met said that the elderly members of the church hired him to lead young people into the church. So many churches are running various programs such as musical bands which may be of interest for the young people, but rather then following the truth written in the Bible they are simply following the flow of the world.

Pastor Woonki Yang (Sydney Church) attended the CLF which happened in March in New York. The missionaries in America visited 2500 churches and among the 850 pastors who attended the CLF there were 250 local pastors from the New York region. Pastor Yang could see that the servant of God is walking past the automatic doors but saw himself who was being hesitant in front of the automatic doors as he saw Pastor Yeongkook Park. Spiritual life is like the automatic doors so just like how the doors open automatically when you step in front of the doors he had the heart that God has prepared everything and will open the doors for him.

Relying on the word in Acts 18:10 which says that ‘I have many people in this city’ they invited many local pastors. Two months prior to the Bible Seminar elder Changbok Yoon visited local churches every Sunday to meet with the pastors. He made appointments with them so that they could meet Pastor Yang. So the elder met 40 pastors in total and there was even a pastor who received salvation as he preached the Gospel to him. Most of the pastors whom we have met said that they will attend our Bible Seminar, and there were event those who opened their hearts towards us and invited us to the Pastoral Meetings they were attending.

Pastor Benjamin who was connected to us was a Bishop in a pastoral meeting with about 30 pastors and he promoted our event before them and helped the promotion of the seminar in the 30 different churches as well. Pastor Gerald was a bishop in a pastoral meeting near Paramata where the Bible Seminar was taking place. So through Pastor Gerald we were able to meet 8 different pastors. Bishop Richard who is from Ghana had fellowship with Pastor Yang and he heard the Gospel and received salvation. Afterwards, he invited us the internet radio station that his church runs and we were able to have interviews and promote our event.

Because God was happy with us inviting pastors for this Bible Seminar he helped us in many different ways. After the Bible Seminar began 40 pastors who were connected to us came to the seminar and listened to the word. Compared to the Bible Seminar three years ago 10 times more pastors came to this seminar. Most of them listened to the Gospel and opened their hearts completely.

Pastor John from India met with Pastor Yang before the seminar and heard the Gospel and received salvation. As he listened to the word of Pastor Ocksoo Park in the seminar he was deeply moved. And he testified saying ‘I wasn’t able to meet with pastors who preached the truth, but I am so joyful that I was able to meet a pastor who preaches the truth and I am also very happy that I realized that I am righteous.’

During the time of Nehemiah as the wall of Jerusalem fell Nehemiah was in sorrow and in sadness. God gave such compassion and pity in the heart of Nehemiah and led him, and by the grace of God he received grace from the king and he was able to cooperate with the 12 tribal leaders and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Likewise, God who wants to preach the Gospel to everyone regardless of their denomination has led us to this Bible Seminar and Pastoral meeting. We hope for the days when all of Australia will be covered with the Gospel as we work together with pastors from other churches.